Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate Read Free

enter the room without being seen.
    I had hoped to at least get a glimpse of Teiko, but of course that wasn’t proper. I knew the rules, even if I didn’t always follow them. Kanemore kneeled on a cushion near the dais, and I followed his example.
    “My sister has been informed—” he started to say but didn’t get to finish.
    “Your older sister is here, Kanemore-kun.”
    Two more maids impeccably dressed in layered yellow and blue
kimonos
entered the room and pulled back the curtain. A translucent veil remained in front of the dais. I could see the ghostly form of a woman kneeling there, her long black hair down loose and flowing over her shoulders. I didn’t need to see her clearly to know it was the same woman who had brought the message to me in the courtyard, whose face I had not seen then, either. No need—the way she moved and the elegance of a gesture, both betrayed her. Now I heard Princess Teiko’s voice again, and that was more than enough.
    Kanemore and I both bowed low.
    There was silence, and then that beautiful voice again, chiding me. “A
donkey,
Lord Yamada? Honestly . . . ”
    I tried not to smile, but it was hard. “My poetry is somewhat . . . unpracticed, Teiko-hime.”
    “Teiko, please. We are old friends.”
    At this Kanemore gave me a hard glance, but I ignored him. Formidable as he was, Kanemore was no longer the most dangerous person in my vicinity, and I needed all my attention for the one who was.
    “I think there is something you wish to discuss with me,” I said. “Is this possible?” It was the most polite way I knew to phrase the question, but Teiko waved it aside.
    “There is no one within hearing,” she said, “who has not already heard. You may speak plainly, Lord Yamada. I will do the same—I need your help.”
    “You have read my answer,” I said.
    “True, but you have not heard my trouble,” Teiko said softly. “Listen and then tell me what you will or will not do. Now then—do you remember a young Fujiwara named Kiyoshi?”
    That was a name I had not heard in a long time. Kiyoshi was about my age when I came to the Court as a very minor official of the household. Since he was handsome, bright, and a Fujiwara, his destiny seemed fixed. Like Kanemore, he chose the somewhat disreputable
bushi
path instead, and died fighting the northern barbarians. He was one of the few of that clan I could tolerate, and I sincerely mourned his death.
    “I do remember him,” I said.
    “There is a rumor going around the Court that Kiyoshi was my lover and that my son Takahito is his issue, not my late husband’s.”
    For a moment I could not speak. This matter was beyond serious. Gossip was close to the rule of law at Court. If this particular gossip was not silenced, both Takahito’s and Teiko’s positions at Court were in peril, and that was just for a start.
    “Do you know who is responsible for the slander?”
    “No. While it’s true that Kiyoshi was very dear to me, we grew up together at Court and our affections to each other were as brother and sister, as was well understood at the time. You know this to be true.”
    I did, if I knew anything. “And you wish for me to discover the culprit? That will be . . . difficult.”
    She laughed softly then, decorously covering her face with her fan even though the veil prevented me from seeing her face clearly. “Lord Yamada, even if I knew who started the rumors, it would do little good. People repeat the gossip now without even knowing from whom they heard it. What I require now is tangible and very public proof that the rumors are false.”
    I considered. “I think that will be difficult as well. The only one who could swear to your innocence died fifteen years ago. Or am I to pursue his ghost?”
    She laughed again. The sound was enchanting, but then everything about her was enchanting to me; there was a reason Princess Teiko was the most dangerous person in that room. I found myself feeling grateful the